Everything was going well and we flew to Canada as planned.  However, the second or third day there I started sneezing a lot and I thought it was just allergies (my sisters have pets).  Nope.  Full blown cold kicked in and I was seriously congested in the sinuses.  No problem I thought.  It’s “above the neck” so I’ll continue on like normal.

By Saturday I was feeling pretty rough and wasn’t sleeping well.  I was sticking to the plan though and drinking lots of fluids to stay hydrated for the marathon the following day.  I even went to collect my race pack from the race expo on Sat afternoon/evening.

Sunday morning, coughing and exhausted.  I couldn’t do it.  I was too ill and I was scared to put myself through about 5 hours of running whilst being ill.  To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.  My friends jokes of calling me a “real virtual runner” didn’t help much either.

So, that was it.  I was a virtual runner with a bad cold, race number, timing chip and new t-shirt but no completed marathon.  To top it all off I’ve been raising money for charity and I feel as though I’ve let people down.

Put it all together and I’m on a bit of a downer at the moment!

So, what am I doing to sort all of this out and get back on form?  I’m thinking about it and I haven’t decided yet.  I’ll do one of the following:-

1. Register for a new marathon in the autumn and use the time to get in even more training and raise more money for charity (although I’ll feel as though I’m putting things off).
2. Do my own “virtual marathon” by completing 26.2 miles myself and documenting it using my Garmin Forerunner and video.  This means I would need to attempt the distance over the next couple of weeks.  Probably on a Sunday around Reading, Berkshire.  The downside to this is that there is no medal and no finish line.  Will I still feel the same completing it?  Or am I just doing it for the sake of doing it?  A guilt marathon.

I’d be grateful if any of you out there could comment on this post and give me your thoughts and opinions on what you would do in this situation.

As for running, I went and ran for an hour this morning and it was the first time I’ve run in about 2 1/2 weeks.  My hip flexors were a bit sore afterwards but it felt okay.  I’ll probably push the 10k running for the whole week and do a bit most mornings in order to get myself ready to plod around the Bupa 10,000 in London this weekend.  I’ve got my race pack through and it’s a great event to do.  I certainly won’t be getting a PB this year but I’ll still get the medal.  I love the medals!

Once I’ve done the 10k I’ll give you a write up about it and let you know what it was like.  I’m supposed to have a VIP pass to the elite/celeb area before the race so who knows who or what I’ll see!  I’m taking my wife with me because I’m rubbish at spotting anyone famous!

Now, you may or may not be wondering about the title of this blog.  I mean, to say “full of crap” kind of indicates that I’ve lied about something.  But I haven’t.  “Full of crap” relates to the ridiculous amount of food I ate while in Canada.  There is nothing to do where we were.  Fredericton, New Brunswick is a beautiful city in Canada but it’s boring!  So, everything seemed to revolve around food and eating out.  To top it all off, I missed a lot of foods that I used to eat when I lived there so I felt I had to try as much as possible.  Bad idea.

The flight home was a bit uncomfortable and my wife and I thought we may have to book extra seats; one for each butt cheek.

To make myself feel a bit better I went on a (kind of) liquid diet for a couple of days.  Man, it felt nice.  All I ate was cereal for breakfast (I know it’s not a liquid but I need some fibre and stuff.  Most important meal of the day!) soups, yoghurt, smoothies etc.  No more bloated feeling!  All ruined today with a massive feast of delicious burnt bbq meaty goodness.  Damn.

Tomorrow the liquid diet starts again.  It’s a nice cleanse for me and I’ll probably try and do it for the whole week.  At the end of the week I’ll assess how I feel and decide whether to continue.

Yours sincerely,

Fatty Chubberson

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I’ve printed all my entry info to take with me on our trip to Canada (we have a house-sitter any would-be burglars) because the website doesn’t actually tell you to bring anything to prove you’ve entered.

I’m trying to remember everthing I need to take with me to Canada like running shoes!  I definitely want to take my Garmin even though I have no idea if it will work in North America if it was bought in UK.  I’m sure it will…

Won’t be long and we’ll be in the land of moose, maple syrup, pick-up trucks, “eh” and politeness (to name but a very few).   After 9th May my main focus will be enjoying myself and trying not to eat myself to death!

I will probably post a blog or two whilst I’m over there but it depends on which family member will allow me to borrow their internet access!

Wish me luck everyone!

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I think that I should’ve been running more each week but it’s too late now.  Some things that I’ve read said that running should be done on consecutive days and that’s what I’ve been avoiding.

The weekday runs have been okay and they’ve been about 10.5km each time and at a pretty good pace too.  I always feel good after having done one.

Today’s long run, different story.  I was walking within the first 2 kms due to shinsplints and it just set the mood for the whole run.  It really pissed me off and it’s a pretty big blow mentally when all other runs have felt pretty good.  I was also using my new pack to carry gels etc and it just didn’t feel right at first.  It took miles to get used to it.

I ended up walking loads and avg pace went through the roof compared to the last long run.  This long run clocked in at 06:45 min/km!  I know that’s an okay pace though and if I finished a whole marathon at that pace I’d be happy, however when you’re actually out there and end up walking all the time it’s really frustrating.  I wish I could get over that mental downer.

Here is the summary of the fun run/walk (that’s another thing, I’m tired of calling my “runs” a “run/walk”.  Before I started doing all of this marathon training I actually did “run” the whole time, just like my mid-week runs):-

So, if I was to finish the marathon at a pace of 06:45 min/km that would be a finish time of 4 hours and 44 minutes. Who would be dissapointed with that as their first marathon time? Not me! So, why the upset with these long runs and all the walking? I think because in my head: I’m supposed to be running.

Tapering begins now. That means the mid-week runs will remain the same but long runs will get gradually smaller up until the marathon. This next long run will be 15 miles (24km), so still pretty long but manageable. The following Sunday will be 10 miles (16km) and then the Sunday after that is the Fredericton Marathon in Canada.

And, most important for last, I’d like to thank my lovely wifey for being so suportive even when I’m a miserable bastard after having what I felt was a crap run. She’s good.

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What do you think? Frankly it’s a bit of a relief and a time saver!

As for the run this morning, it was okay on the “out” part and the coming “back” was a bit more difficult. Still ended up doing quite a bit of walking but average pace still came out at about 06:23 min/km. If I can finish a marathon at that pace I’d be very happy. That would put me at about 4 and 1/2 hours I think but I’ll problably end up doing the marathon at an average pace of about 07:00 min/km.

I know feel more tired and sore than I have ever felt in my whole life. It makes me wonder how a full marathon is even possible and it certainly makes me have more respect for the people that run them on a regular basis.

If you have never run a full marathon, you gotta be prepared for the mental and physical pain! I never would have imagined it was as bad as this!

However… the sense of achievement when I get back from these super-long runs is amazing. I mean, each one is just a little bit further and it makes me feel amazing knowing that I’ve managed to go that far! Me!

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Summary:-

Here are some photos I took on my looooong run:-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thevirtualrunner/sets/

I almost didn’t even go on the run in the first place but my wife practically pushed me out the door.  It was cold and miserable for the first few miles too but once I got to the Thames River it was much better.  The scenic run made up for the cold and the sun came out too.

It was a simple out-and-back run but the wind was in my face the whole way out.  Thankfully the run back was nicer.  The reason I did an out-and-back run was so I wouldn’t wimp out part way through and shorten the run.  I just kepting running away from home until I hit 12km and turned around.  Pretty much assured to do the 24km that way… unless I caught a bus or a taxi or something!

Quite exhausted yesterday and my knees were very sore by the end of the evening.  Today they feel fine and I’m stiff all over again like when I did the Reading Half Marathon.

I’m also pretty amazed with myself and how far I ran.  I almost felt the same sense of achievement as when I do the Reading Half Marathon each year.  The only thing missing was a medal!  Perhaps I should make some up and get my wife to present them to me when I return from my long runs… I’ll mention it over dinner!

This coming Sunday I’m going to have to do 26.5km (16.46 miles)!

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My third attempt of the Reading Half Marathon certainly wasn’t my best.  I had a good first half and at the 10k mark my time seemed pretty good and I was at about the 58min mark.  However, the whole second half was much harder and I was experiencing some major tiredness in my legs and feet whilst running.  I had to stop and walk many many times during the second half and my overall finish time was more than 2 hours 16 mins!  Even worse than when I ran it for the first time.

My split times were as follows:-

5K – 00:29:20

10K – 00:58:33

15K – 01:32:26

20K – 02:08:24

When the pain was really bad I just kept focusing on getting finished.  Even if I had to walk the rest of the damn thing, I was going to finish! That is the one big positive out of all this, I finished it even though my body and brain were telling me I’d had enough.  For me it was a serious mind over matter moment.

I must admit that when I finished the run I was quite upset/disappointed with myself.  My wife was very helpful though and reminded me that I had finished the run in the first place.  That’s why everyone in the audience cheers so much, not just because they have family/friends running, but because they’re proud of all of us for doing it in the first place.  So, even though it was a “personal worst”, I’m proud of me for doing it as well.

The one big lesson out of all of this is that I need to train more.  I’ve been a bit slack lately and with a full marathon coming up in 7 weeks I just can’t afford to do that anymore.

Of course, this finish time and the pain has made me wonder how many days (kidding) it’s going to take me to finish the marathon.  The good thing about the marathon is that I don’t actually have any previous finish times to compare against in my head.  I just want to finish it… and I will.

So the main focus over the next 7 weeks is training and dropping a few pounds.  I think it was a combination of lack of training and being too heavy this time.  I need to trim down a few kilos in order to be better prepared for the full marathon.

Today I’m hobbling around and having a very hard time going up and down stairs.  My calf muscles and quads are killing me.  My quads!  Why?  Usually it is my hamstrings that are sore after running or training.

My wife was kind enough to give me a leg massage today and although it was an extremely painful experience (which I’m sure she enjoyed) it does feel a bit better.

I wonder if it’s safe to go to the gym tomorrow and do a little bit on the cross trainer…

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I’m trying to do two quality runs during the week (tempo and intervals) with a long run each Sunday.  Unfortunately this week I didn’t even run during the week but still managed to do 10 miles today.

I think my biggest problem is food!  Oh how I love the food… any type of food and lots of it.  Okay, not shellfish… but most food!

I’m going to have to make a conscious effort to reduce the intake of crap over the next few weeks because I’m carrying a few (I’m playing it down) extra pounds at the moment and I’m not going to do my knees or legs any favours by making them lug this heavy frame around a marathon.

The Reading Half Marathon is a week from today, and I’m very glad that I don’t have a personal goal for this one.  My only plan is to run the whole thing at the slow-ish pace I’m going to run the marathon at.  That’s about an average pace of 06:30 to 06:40 min per km.  Yeah, it’s slow but I want to take it easy as much as possible.

8 weeks until the Fredericton Marathon!  I’m thinking I will need to sort out some new running shoes before then.  I don’t think the current Asics Kayano running shoes are going to make it to then.

I’m also going to need to up my game on the long runs after Reading Half Marathon.  I’m planning on increasing my runs as follows:-

28 March – 22.5km (13.98 miles)

04 April – 23.40km (14.54 miles)

11 April – 26.00km (16.15 miles)

18 April – 28.90km (17.95 miles)

25 April – 32.18km (20.00 miles)

02 May – 16.09km (10.00 miles)

09 May – 42.19km (26.20 miles) – MARATHON DAY

Any runners out there think this is realistic?  It’s only a 10% increase each week to take me where I need to be.  I’m trying to keep it as gradual as I can and I thought 20 miles is the most I’ll need to train for in order to do the marathon.  Well, I hope it is, because it’s too late now!

Here is a summary of my runs recently:-

As for non-running related matters are concerned.  It’s Mothers Day here in the UK so my son got his mummy some lovely flowers (he chose them all by himself) and a card which he scribbled in and all over.  Terrible handwriting…

At work, things are still stressful and everyone wondering what is going to happen.  I won’t go on about it and I’ll let you know what happens on that front in a few weeks time when I actually know.

Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out there and take care!

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Here is a summary of the runs I’ve done recently from Garmin Connect:-

Today (31/01/2010)

28 January 2010

27 January 2010

24 January 2010

21 January 2010

I’ll keep running and I’ll let you know how things are going. 

I was wrestling around and playing with my wife earlier today and I think I’ve thrown my back out a bit.  Same side (right) where I always get the sciatica.  I’ve been stretching it all evening and it’s feeling okay-ish.  I’ll just keep up the stretching and ibuprofen and it will be fine.

As far as the Fredericton Marathon (09 May 2010) is concerned… I’ve registered!  $60.00.  I have no idea what that equates to in good ole British pounds but I know it’s pretty cheap compared to some marathons over here!

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I’ve started running again this week after about 4 weeks off due to laziness and illness.  It’s a little hard going but much easier than I thought it would be!

I started by doing 5.43km on Sunday at an average pace of 06:25 min/km.  Nice and slow so I didn’t insure myself!  On Monday my legs were quite stiff and I didn’t go running but had that as a rest day.

Yesterday (Tuesday) I increased the distance and the speed just a bit:-

Today was another day off to rest my (still) sore/stiff legs and then I’ll be off to the gym again tomorrow morning to visit my friend the treadmill!  Once I get things built up again my long runs will be on Sundays again and I’ll be off on the roads to see where I end up!

It’s all good!  Bring on the Fredericton Marathon!

http://www.frederictonmarathon.ca/

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I’d firstly like to apologise to both my readers for not posting anything in some time.  I’d also like to apologise to myself for not having the motivation to just get off my backside and get out there running.

For the past few weeks I’ve done nothing but sit on my butt!  Yes, I was ill for a couple weeks out of that and I also had a bout of food poisoning, but there is a major laziness element at play too.

I’ve found it hard to get motivated when it comes to running and I think that the motivation will start to return.  In fact, it started to return last night when I was looking online at future runs/events.

My wife, my son and I are travelling to Canada this year (we have a house-sitter – all you would be robbers) in May for a couple of weeks to visit family.  Whilst we are there an event will be on that we took part in in 2007 – The Fredericton Marathon. 

The Fredericton Marathon is the name of the event, however there is a 5k, 10k, half-marathon and a full marathon to take part in.  We did the 10k a couple of years ago and it’s a small event but all flat because it’s in a river valley.

I was/am intending to do the Brighton Marathon on 18 April, however because of the lack of training going on at the moment I don’t think this will be realistic (do you?).  So, I’m thinking that if I get off my backside today and start running again that I can be ready to plod through my first marathon on 9th May instead!  In Canada!  My home country!

I was originally motivated to do the Brighton Marathon but it’s waned somewhat… not sure why.  The thought of doing the Fredericton Marathon has filled me with a new sense of motivation and also I think it’s fate that I’m supposed to run it!  It’s 17 weeks away which means I’ll have more time to train and get around the course too!

As for all of you and this blog… I will start boring you with my ramblings again.  Whether or not you read them is up to you!

Bring on the training!!

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